by Mj Fields
“You have no idea what it was like. Your father sleeping with that, that, minority, then you bring Cruz around. You all rubbed my nose in it! You both pushed this, begged for my break down. Then you marry that, that-”
I hold up my hand stopping her, “Don’t talk about my wife…”
“She is not your wife!”
“She was and then mysteriously those documents disappeared. It’s been narrowed down as to who had their hands in that. The suspect is linked to Deveroux. But don’t worry, Mother¸ the situation has been rectified and Francesca and I are once again, man and wife-”
“You son of a -”
I catch her hand before it connects with her target, my face. “No truer words have ever been nearly spoken. Leave it alone, Mother, and I won’t expose Deveroux in illegally tampering with legal documentation.”
“You can’t prove anything!”
“I can prove that you’re lovers,” I pause as she gasps. “That’s right, Mother, Father isn’t the only one who had infidelities, now is he?”
“You are wrong,” she says as she turns away.
“No, I’m right and you know it. I am also pretty sure my father’s accident wasn’t an accident at all. I can guarantee when I go over the accident report, and do some digging of my own, that bastard Deveroux will have been behind that too.”
I hear the parlor door slam and look back as Arthur Deveroux walks towards me. “You better make damn sure you have all your I’s dotted and T’s crossed before you make such an allegation, Jaxson.” He walks calmly past me and to the corner bar where he pours himself a scotch.
“I certainly will,” I try to say without coming unglued.
He turns and stares at me with a look of malice on his face, “You also keep in mind that, politically, I have your balls in my hands.”
“Nothing you say or do to try to intimidate me will work, Deveroux.”
“Your father’s death comes at an inopportune time. His Gubernatorial candidacy was in the bag. With him gone you are gonna have to align yourself with the game maker, Jaxson. Care to guess who that is?”
I want to grab his neck and crush his throat while listening to the last breath leave his body.
“You will not be a player on my team, you imbecile.”
“Your team?” he laughs and then laughs harder. “It’s my team now, Irons. Your father may have been the king-”
“Today, I am king! Now listen to me well, I will punish everyone that defies me. Do not test my power or tempt my fury.”
I hear the door open and see Shadows slide in, “If you’re king, what does that make me? General?”
“You two are nothing, less than nothing.”
“It’s time for you to leave,” Shadows walks past me towards him.
“Be gentle,” I only half joke.
“Helen, you need to tell your little pit bull and his Chihuahua to leave.”
I look at my mother, who is looking out the window. She says nothing.
“Helen?” he snaps.
“Mother, I have drawn a line-”
“You bastard. You’ll pay for this,” Deveroux hisses as Shadows pushes him towards the door.
“I already have! You piece of shit! You have been messing with my life for what? Seven, eight years now? Since that day I woke up with your daughter in my bed!”
“I should have had you arrested then. I should have pressed charges for rape!”
“But you didn’t! Why is that? My guess is that you drugged both of us. Why? No- don’t answer, you did it for political gain!”
My mother walks towards me quickly, “Not another word, Jaxson!”
“Not another word!”
“He has a tape, Jaxson, of you carrying his daughter to bed, passed out cold and-“
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“What she is saying is that I have been a friend to this family for years, I have sacrificed many things for this country for your family, for-”
I quickly look at my mother, who is looking at me with disgust. “You buy this shit, these lies he’s-” She looks away. “Look at me Mother! Do you think I raped-”
“I don’t know! I don’t know but-”
“What the fuck is wrong with you?! You believe that I-”
“There is evidence-”
“I want to see it! I want to see this now!” My heart is beating against my chest and it feels like it may come out. “NOW!”
“I don’t have it! I don’t have it, your father put it somewhere!”
“Irons, calm the fuck down,” Shadows knew what was going on in my head, he knew because he knew me. “Scum like this fabricates shit for their own gain. He is a bottom feeder, a-”
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” Deveroux yells at him.
“Can’t I just take him out back and silence him for like,” Shadows smirks, “Ever?”
“Then we’d be playing the same game as they are. No, Shadows, just see him off the property. He doesn’t get back in without that tape.”
“I gave that to your father, to show loyalty!”
“Before or after you started fucking his wife behind his back? No don’t answer” I say calmly. “When I found out you were fucking with my life, I started looking into yours. Both of yours.”
“Mimi, that little whore-”
“You dare speak of your own daughter that way?! You dare-”
“My daughter who is not good enough for you. My daughter who couldn’t win over the likes of you.”
“Shadows,” I hiss, “Get him out of here. Make sure he has a tail.” I turn and look at Deveroux, “One hair on her head is harmed and you will pay.”
“I fear nothing,” he spits out.
“You have no idea what men like me are capable of. I never asked for this life, but I will damn sure guarantee I will make it all right. I will right the wrongs you have created.”
“And I will be-”
“You will be nothing,” Shadows grabs his arm, swiftly moves behind him and wrenches it up just enough to cause some hurt.
“Fuck!”
~*~
I walk out of the room, leaving Mother alone. I know she won’t go far. I make my way into my father’s office. I shut the door behind me and look around. There are things I have been taught growing up that a man does. A man protects, a man leads, and a man takes care of what needs to be done.
There are things my father and I discussed on several occasions that an Irons is supposed to do. In addition to protecting one’s country, being a leader, and taking care of what needs to be done, an Irons is expected to keep their composure and when his time comes, lead the family in the direction that was set in stone four generations ago.
Father entrusted me with information critical to keeping this family on point. I gave him my word and I am a man of my word. In turn, I was told when he went to meet his maker, I would be entrusted with the family Bible. It has been handed down to the first son, in each generation and only if that man remained in service to his country and intended on staying the course.
I was given this responsibility at ten years old and made to swear that I would not touch it until he told me to, or he was gone. I was given this burden to carry the day he was deployed to Iraq.
I look around the office for the Bible I had only seen one time but I know I will remember it, that day was the day I realized my life was not like that of all the other children I saw at my private school. All of them also had parents who were influential but none seemed to be as serious about their lots in life as I was made to feel.
I sit behind the desk I used to know would someday be mine. Back then it was a comfort when he was deployed. Now it feels like a heavy burden that has been placed on me. It feels as if whatever it is I find out will put a distance between Francesca and me. I don’t want distance when I have just realized how comfortable closeness is.
I sit back and run my hands over the top of my head
I lean back in the large, black lea
ther chair and take in a deep breath and then look at the one picture on his desk. It is Grandfather, Father, and me.
After a while, I look at the clock. It is almost ten pm. It’s been a long damn day.
I look up when the door opens, “Not know, Mother.”
She looks at me and then down, “I don’t know what you think you know-”
“I said not now. Why don’t you go take your little pill and go to bed?”
“You’ll be here in the morning?”
The tone in her voice strikes me as odd. There is a softness to it, one I have never in my life heard before.
I won’t buy into her game. “I said I would stay.”
“Thank you.”
When she leaves the room, I reach in my pocket ready to message Frankie. I miss her. But my wife is one step ahead of me and I see she has just sent one to me.
It’s a picture of her and Lily on a plane. Lily is asleep and her head is resting on Frankie’s shoulder.
I love you, Jax, and God help me, I am so in love with her too.
I reply.
Where are you?
Hers is immediate
Bringing the Firefly home, where she belongs.
Mine next message is,
Thank you. Fly safe. I love you, Francesca, more and more every day.
I feel emotions swell inside of me, emotions that need to stay in tow, for now.
The door opens again and it is Shadows, behind him is Mimi. Her eyes are red and puffy, her eye makeup is smeared under them.
“He called me, Jax, threatened me. He told me-”
“Take her to the guest house. Keep her away from Mother. Make sure someone is with her-”
“But Jax-,” she begins.
“I don’t have time for this right now.”
“But-”
“We will talk in the morning, Mimi. Goodnight.”
“But-”
“Let’s go,” Shadows takes her elbow and leads her out the door.
Once I am alone again, I walk over to the built-in-bookshelf. I start my search from top to bottom.
My eyes are tired and my head is pounding. Headaches not from stress but ones I have had since the accident. Ones I haven’t told anyone about. I haven’t had time. They seem to be coming more often and the pressure is more intense. There is dizziness sometimes, too. I know that I will have to see the doctor again, when this is all over and done with.
I spot it on the fourth shelf, and pull it out. I look at the black leather bound cover with the words Irons Family Bible inscribed in silver. I walk over to the desk, sit down, and open it.
I open the cover and there is an envelope with my name on it. I open it up and sit back to read the hand written letter, to me in my father’s handwriting.
It is dated less than a month ago.
Jaxson,
If you are reading this, I have left not only the service of my country and my family, but my service to the world. Please don’t think this statement to be dramatic. It is not. It is the God’s honest truth.
When you have read and digested all the secrets this family has held for generations you will understand. You were born of power and responsibility. Those two things leave little room for anything else.
You are not like other people, Jaxson. You are the offspring of men who have taken an oath to this country and her people. You will always have everything you need, but may not have everything you want.
Francesca Cruz is one of those things that does not play into this role. She is hot headed and emotional. She is not good for the United States of America, Jaxson. She is not what our great nation, the most powerful nation in the free world, needs as a partner.
I understand love and desire. I know the difference, and from what I have seen, you do now as well.
You’re a soldier of the United States of America, a man born and bred to become her leader. This is not only your responsibility but your birthright. It is a privilege, Jaxson, and very soon you’ll understand why you now have to choose that privilege over what your heart is telling you.
This is an order soldier.
Your father,
Jonathon
Rage consumes me. I pick the book up and throw it against the picture hanging on the wall. The picture of three generations of Irons men.
THE PLANE TOUCHES DOWN ON a private airstrip and the little one is still asleep on my shoulder. Both of her adoptive parents sit nervously across from us and neither one seems at all concerned with Lily’s future.
They have whispered amongst themselves, but stop whenever they see me look at them. Neither one of them put up a fight about what they both clearly knew was happening.
When we boarded the plane, they boarded ahead of Lily and me. They sat together on the side of the small jet, and not on the couch that could have easily fit all three of them.
My heart shattered, completely shattered, when she stopped and looked at them. In her very sweet way, I know she was trying to get some comfort from them, comfort they didn’t offer; hell, they didn’t even fake concern.
“Do you have Benadryl? She doesn’t like flying and it will make her fall asleep,” the woman, Lily’s mother-figure, said without emotion.
I gave them the most disgusted look I could, several times. If Lily wasn’t here I would have gouged their eyes out. I despise these people, people like them, like Helen Irons.
When I comforted Lily, it seemed to make her even sadder.
The door opens and I have her in my arms walking towards the exit before the stairs are even completely flush against the plane.
“Easy, Mrs. Irons,” Titan says, putting his hand in front of me.
“One more minute with them-”
“Where are we?” Lily’s big blue eyes open.
“Near home,” I answer, still holding her.
“Okay,” she looks over my shoulder and I know she is looking at them.
“You ready to go make brownies?” I ask, trying to focus her attention back on me.
“It’s late, right?”
“Yes, very,” I say and push her thick dark hair away from her face.
“I’m tired, can I sleep when we get, wherever?”
“When we get home, you can sleep or make brownies or-”
“How about sleep and make brownies in the morning,” Titan says as he puts his hands out. “I’ll carry her down the stairs.”
“I have her,” I say without thinking.
“I can walk,” she says as she slides down. I give Titan a dirty look and she takes my hand, “Ready?”
“Yes, of course.”
~*~
When we get to the house, she is asleep. Titan scoops her up and carries her before I have a chance to protest.
I get out and hear her parents start to whisper. The sounds of their voices pisses me off.
I lean back in, “Do you even care about that beautiful little girl in there? Are you even concerned that she is being pulled out of her home, her-”
“We are doing what is asked of us, without hesitation, or fight-”
“Would you fight for her if you had the chance?! Would you?!”
“Francesca, let’s go,” Odin says from behind me.
“No! Answer me, damn you!”
“We have kept her safe and fed. We have provided-”
“In seven years, did you ever say I love you? Did you?!”
“It wasn’t part of the agreement,” the woman says to me and I lunge forward, ready to rip her apart when I feel two arms wrap around me and lift me, then carry me to the house while I fight to get loose.
“Easy now.”
I look back and see Russ, then hear the vehicle pull out of the driveway.
“Where are they going? Where?!”
“To a hotel. Tomorrow we have some testing done to prove the paternity of the girl-”
“She’s ours!”
Titan walks out of the house, “Go inside, Russ.” I start to walk past him and he grabs my elbow. “Not you.
Not yet.”
“Let go of me,” I say as my body begins to shake. Then without warning, I begin crying.
Titan hugs me, “You’ve earned a ten minute melt down and then you need to get your head on straight, little Will.”
I’m too upset to fight with him, too emotionally destroyed to do anything but cry. I know he’s right. I know I need to be strong, for Lily, for Jax, for us.
After I have calmed down, I go into our room and change into one of Jaxson’s shirts and a pair of yoga pants. When I walk out of the closet, I notice Lily is in our bed. I look to the door and Titan is standing with his arms crossed, leaning against the door jam.
“You good?”
“Yes, are you?”
“Yeah, real good.” He nods his head back to the living room, “Got a minute?”
“Yes, of course.”
When I walk out, he hands me a glass of wine, “You earned this.”
I take a drink, “Thank you.”
“Doc’s on her way over.”
“Dr. Neil?” I ask.
“She took good care of Jax, seems trustworthy, I think she should do the test-”
“Does she know?”
“She will when Russ picks her up. He’s been instructed not to tell her shit on the phone.” Titan takes a drink.
“I like her.”
“Yeah,” he wipes his lips with the back of his hand, “Seems like good people.”
~*~
I watch as Dr. Neil swabs her cheek; it is crazy to me that Lily has slept through this.
She looks at me as she puts the swab back into the sterile collection container. Then she looks down at Lily and smiles as she rubs the side of her face. “Most beautiful child I have ever seen.”
“She looks like Jaxson.”
She turns and looks at me, “She could pass for yours too.”
She stands up and I look at Lily, trying to see what it is Dr. Neil saw, because I wanted it to be true.
“Got a minute?” she asks as I cover Lily and tighten the covers around her.
I nod, kiss her precious little head and stand up. I don’t want to leave her again. I know how silly it is, but Lily already feels like she is part of me.